Action Stations! | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? Nov 27-Dec 3, 2023
How are we here already?! (Interpret that how you will)
Monday
Atlas was up quite a few times last night – while we did have a few glorious weeks there during which he was not waking up at all during the night, we’re pretty much back to waking up at least once and insisting on nursing (and by “insisting”, I mean screaming until we give in because nobody can listen to a baby bawling all night long) – and, when I get him up this morning, I decide to check his temperature just in case, only to find out that he has a bit of a temperature, so I guess we’re not going anywhere today.
I know I’m incredibly lucky (or maybe his babysitter is incredibly lucky!) that I can make those decisions pretty easily; while keeping him home today will mean that I won’t really get much work done during the day, I have the flexibility to work during his naps and in the evenings when Brandin is home with the boys.
Plus, I know that my choice not to work today and chill out with him instead won’t have a negative impact on my career progression, which isn’t a privilege afforded to most women (on whom, as we know, the bulk of the caregiving falls, especially when it comes to sick days for their kids).
Anyway, he’s a little fractious but nothing major, and is happy enough playing on the floor for a while, stacking his blocks and playing Bluey house with me. (This is a very involved and high-stakes game, in which I arrange all of the Bluey furniture and characters in their house perfectly and he bashes everything around until the house is completely empty and we start all over again.)
For lunch, I order McDonald’s ($25.91), and the look on his face when I hold up the takeaway bag to show him – sheer joy! exhilaration! such excitement! – is a massive lie, because when we sit down to eat he has absolutely zero interest, and just wants to play with his cars instead.
It could have something to do with the fact that the order took about 15 minutes to be picked up, and was freezing cold when it got to us and had to be lobbed in the microwave for 30 seconds, rendering it warm-er but also soggy and rather unappetising (she says, having eaten both hers and the baby’s meals).
I complain via the DoorDash app and they refund me $16 for the food (less the service fees and tip) in app credits.
By the time Atlas goes down for his nap I’ve decided to take this time to finish Fourth Wing instead of working (which I’ll do later, when Brandin gets home), and when I do, I of course want to start Iron Flame, the second in the series, immediately, so I order it from Barnes & Noble ($32.09) for in-store pick-up, imagining I might go and get it later.
(As a related aside, in finding the Amazon UK links for those books I’ve realised that books in America are almost double the price they are in the UK / Ireland – WHY?! It’s n outrage!)
When Brandin gets home with the boys, I get Atlas up from his nap and deposit him with his brothers before heading to my office to get some freelance content work done, try to tick off some of the things I had planned for today’s to-do list and pay the balance on my Target credit card.
I recently started adding all of my credit card payments to my Google Calendar, with the amounts due on those dates – so for this month, I’ll have “BOI card due €22” (for example, that is a ridiculously low balance) – because I’m trying to (a) make sure that I’m paying off the balances each month but also (b) ultimately reduce my credit card balances overall, because my high credit usage (the % of my overall available credit that is currently used up) has decreased my credit score by 10 points, and I would really like to get it above 700 (it’s currently at 659).
Aside from the fact that it adds a certain level of unwanted stress every time I check my calendar, putting them there has actually helped me keep on top of it, at least so far.
Brandin makes pasta for dinner and I emerge from my work hidey-hole for long enough to eat with him and the boys before heading back up to finish up. You will note that I do not get to Barnes & Noble to pick up the precious. Bah.
Daily total: $58
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Anchor Baby to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.